‘I Did The Viral Dopamine Detox—Here’s Why I Won’t Do It Again’
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This summer, the hashtag “dopamine detox” blew up on TikTok. The phrase, which refers to cutting out activities that provide you with a little dopamine hit like social media or TV, currently has 82 million views on TikTok. And perhaps unsurprisingly, influencers like Emma Chamberlain started documenting their own "dopamine detoxes"to the masses.
The Internet trend involves giving up anything that quickly boosts dopamine, which is the feel-good chemical made in your brain that acts as a messenger between nerve cells in your brain and the rest of your body, according to Cleveland Clinic. Dopamine is part of your brain's reward system, because it gives you a sense of pleasure, as well as the motivation to do something when you’re feeling pleasure. It also plays a role in many body functions, including memory, movement, motivation, mood, attention and more.
But in today's world, access to digital media floods our brains with too many quick dopamine hits, says Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and author of Dopamine Nation. Think of how easy it is to order dinner, listen to music, and catch up on social media—all within a few seconds.
Meet the Experts:
Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and author of Dopamine Nation.
Dave Sulzer, PhD, a professor of psychiatry, neurology, and neurobiology at Columbia University.
The double-edged dopamine sword is that the more hits you take, the less effective each one is. Eventually, this results in decreased ability to derive the same amount of pleasure from these actions.
This is where the "detox" element comes in. The theory goes that cutting off your dopamine sources will help you escape saturation. And while it's definitely trendy now, the phenomenon actually first entered the Internet zeitgeist around 2019—when tech bros and self-improvement seekers popularized the idea of "fasting" from all mood-boosting activities, including eating (?!), Internet use, and socialization, in order to feel more satisfaction from life.
By 2023, the trend trickled down to the "that girl"corner of the Internet, where women billing themselves as the ultimate wellness girlies boasted the positive affects of their own "dopamine detoxes." These TikTokers told their followers that they provided "life changing" benefits like better focus and productivity, and claimed they started waking up more "refreshed," and "like a person again."
At its most basic, this "detox" can translate to a media cleanse, and at its most extreme, it involves fasting and social isolation. Most influencers on my timeline seemed to fall somewhere in the middle—they cut out social media, fast food, and music, but often didn't go as far as a full-on social isolation cleanse.
FWIW, dopamine production is a natural body process, so you can't *actually* detox from it, nor should you want to, says Dave Sulzer, PhD, a professor of psychiatry, neurology, and neurobiology at Columbia University. Instead, Sulzer suggests thinking of this cleanse as a way to address behaviors you want to change.
Still, the concept was so intriguing that I wanted to test it out. I like doing regular social media detoxes (I first did one during exams in high school) and generally feel happier and more focused afterwards, so I figured this would just level up my "cleanses." I tested a lower-tier dopamine detox for 48 hours, and gave up scrolling social media, listening to music, drinking alcohol, ordering food, and watching anything on a screen (television, YouTube, movies) from Thursday night to Saturday night.
As you might imagine, it was extremely difficult. And sadly, I didn't feel particularly enlightened when it was over (more on that later), but here's what I learned along the way.
I ”dopamine detoxed” for 48 hours—and I was bored out of my mind.
A "dopamine detox" is really hard. I started my experiment on a Thursday evening at around 4 p.m. My work day ended around 6 p.m., and by 6:15 p.m., I was bored out of my mind.
I'll confess that I spend a lot of time catching up on social media after work (primarily TikTok), and almost always spend the entirety of my workday listening to music (I love Spotify's Classical Mix). Without those aspects, my day felt a lot emptier. I had nothing to do.
I tried to read or go for walks, but mostly felt annoyed that I couldn't listen to music. What was I to do without Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo narrating walks around my Brooklyn neighborhood? Not feel like the main character in an early 2000s romantic comedy? Boring!
Many times, I'd randomly unlock my phone for no reason (with all the time on my hands, I counted an average six pick-ups every hour)—which, while alarming, wasn't all that surprising. I'd open my work email or camera roll, only to close the apps again.
By the end of the 48 hours, I had even broken my no social media rule to share a new article my coworker had just published on Instagram.
I had more time for myself, but it wasn’t necessarily enjoyable.
It was much easier to motivate myself to do things like clean or go to the gym, because I had nothing else to do. Exercise gave me a much-missed mood boost, but without being able to listen to music, my workouts also felt a lot harder.
I was hoping to at least hear some music through my gym's speakers—which wouldn't have technically been cheating. But, as my luck would have it, the music was temporarily muted for a tournament my gym was hosting.
Meal times were also a struggle.
I normally eat while watching a YouTube video or TV show on my phone, but instead, I ate quietly in my kitchen. I live with three roommates, but our schedules only aligned for one meal throughout my detox. It was definitely nice to have that one mealtime convo with friends, but there were also several solo meals.
During these times, I mostly just stared out my kitchen window, or thought about chores I needed to do after I was done eating. However, by my final meal, I found that I was more focused on simply the taste of the food—rather than all the other things going on that day.
I didn’t have any grand revelations from my detox.
TBH, I wasn't expecting to walk away from this experience as a totally new person, but I did expect to feel better than I did. Other than a state of mind I can only describe as less cluttered, or more clearheaded, I didn't feel different—especially when it came to my desire to use digital media.
In fact, in the week following my detox, my screen time activity actually went up 28 percent, based on data tracking on my iPhone. And I'm not alone in seeing minimal results.
Tina Zhang, a blogger who pursued a seven-day "dopamine detox," tells WH that her screen time was only "a little bit lower" than normal in the weeks following her detox. She agreed with the "less cluttered" feeling, but overall didn't feel particularly changed by the experience.
And the experts agree with our-real life experiences: Improved focus can be true in some instances like, say, doing a 10- to 14-day "dopamine detox." This can reset a person's impulsive behavioral and thinking patterns, Lembke says. "[People experience] a better mood, less anxiety, and fewer compulsions or intrusive thoughts," she explains.
Experts say the viral detox rules are actually kinda ineffective.
Dr. Lembke wasn't surprised by my results. In fact, she says that in order to be effective, you need to give up an "addictive" behavior for at least a month. And it shouldn't be all dopamine boosters at once, like the trend advertises. Instead, you should choose one source of quick dopamine—just social media or just television—to give up for a longer period of time.
"People who have an Internet or technology addiction, which frankly is so many of us now, usually have to stop [use] for a month," she explains. "We see they're quite uncomfortable in the first 10 to 14 days." Since I only did my detox for 48 hours, it makes sense that I didn't feel like I got much use out of it—and that I was uncomfortable the whole time.
Similarly, Tina was surprised at how easy it was to go back to her normal behaviors after her detox. She also noted that she would pick up her phone impulsively throughout the cleanse.
That said, Tina shared that the most rewarding part of her dopamine detox experience was watching a sunset by herself while on a trip with friends (who were preoccupied with devices at the time). For me, it was certainly the time I spent chatting with my roommates. Scheduling open windows of time with more fulfilling activities can help you get the most out of your "detox."
Is a dopamine detox worth trying?
While my experience wasn't great, I did learn a lot about my behavior and relationship to technology. Dr. Lembke says that to understand whether you're even addicted to something, you should "try stopping and see how hard it is."
My "detox" taught me that the behaviors that are hardest for me to break are watching television and listening to music. I tend to do these activities passively—often skipping songs after a few seconds, or only half paying attention to the plot of a certain show. Overall, these behaviors are something I initially took on for enjoyment, but I now mostly do out of pure habit.
Still, my experience with the detox made me wonder what I'd do with my extra time if I gave up listening to music or watching TV for an entire month. So, I asked Dr. Lembke, who's done her own detox, what she does with her time instead.
"I talk to my family, I write letters to my daughter, or I go outside and start meeting my neighbors," Dr. Lembke says. "Once you get out of the vortex and embody your time, your body, and your space in a different way—there's a lot to do."
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